Mashhad

Mashhad is the holiest city in Iran. The city grew around the legendary martyrdom of Imam Reza - the 8th Imam of the Shiite Muslims, who died in 817. It is interesting to know that the word Mashhad literally means place of martyrdom. In time this burial place began to attract Shiite pilgrims. What had been a small village grew around the Shrine into a small town, later known as Mashhad, but for many centuries its development was slow.
Since the 9th century the tomb has been ravaged and almost destroyed many times - but reconstruction and additions have occurred even more frequently. The Shrine was severely damaged by Mongols.
Mashhad became capital of Khorasan in the 15th century, in succession to the nearby town of Tus. In the 15th century the city was troubled by Uzbek invasions, and the population fell dramatically.
Although it had always attracted pilgrims, Mashhad did not become a pilgrimage centre until the coming of the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century, when Shiism was established as the state religion.
Despite its new-acquired importance, Mashhad was attacked in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Uzbeks and by the Afghans in 1722.
Several uprisings here in the 19th century were severely put down by the ruling Qajars, but Mashhad returned to peace under the reign of Naser ad-Din Shah, and under the present regime its continuing importance, at least in religious matters, remains secure.